Today I was delighted to see this story out of the UKCoroners to investigate stillborn deathsThe argument put forward in this article is so compelling I think it’s worth highlighting some main points from it with a little of my own commentary:Today, the Health Secretary announced “a new maternity strategy to reduce the number of stillbirths”. This strategy centres on the investigation of still birth deaths by the new Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch but it also included a planned change in the law to allow coroners to investigate full term still birth deaths. Currently there is no requirement for a doctor to refer a still birth death to the local coroner.This echoes the current state of affairs not only in the UK but in most high income countries across the globe including Australia, the stillborn baby is not considered a legal entity.A recent report by MBRACE-UK included the finding that in 8 out of 10 deaths different care might have saved the baby’s life.We currently don’t have a similar report in Australia BUT if we did, I suspect that we would also find similar concerning rates.Recently the Chief Coroner voiced concerns about the inadequacy of the law in England and Wales on referrals of still born deaths to coroners. There is no legal requirement for doctors to refer the death of a still born baby to the local coroner which is a lost opportunity to improve the safety of maternity care. The situation in Australia is even worse, the Coroner has no jurisdiction for investigating stillbirth meaning that even if they wanted to the current law prevents anyone referring a stillborn death to the coroner.This means that coroners are not routinely investigating still birth deaths and so the reasons why babies die in unexplained circumstances are not being discovered and lessons are not being learnt. Not only does an inquest bring to light the causes of deaths but it also requires coroners to make a formal Report to Prevent Future Deaths where concerns are identified. Such a report is public and sent to those with the power to make changes highlighting the practical steps that need to be taken with the intention of improving public health, welfare and safety.These are PRECISELY the reasons why the Coroner needs to have jurisdiction over stillborn deaths in Australia too!!!The Chief Coroner reported that discussion had commenced on considering whether stillbirths/near term deaths should be reportable cases but that any changes would be likely to require primary legislation. Today’s announcement in the House of Commons promises that these changes will be made after further consultation with the Ministry of Justice. The Health Secretary suggested in his response to questions from the House that this consultation might include considering whether or not “specialist” coroners will be needed in order to properly investigate these types of death.Stillaware is calling for a similar change in legislation in Australia BUT we are apparently a LOOOOONG way behind the UK. So Come on Aussie come on lets also begin the process that will inevitably lead to saving more babies lives in Australia and not be left behind by countries like the UK!

Today something really rather remarkable happened. The first, I hope, of many timed international releases of a stillbirth public awareness campaign. This one is the Sleep On Side campaign which tells women about the risk of going to sleep on their back in late pregnancy. #SleepOnSide is timed to coincide with the lifting of a publication embargo on the latest case-control study that demonstrates (once again) that going to sleep on your back in late pregnancy is risky. The study lead by my mate Prof Alex Heazell is published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG) it’s the fourth well conducted case controlled study to find a link between stillbirth and maternal going to sleep position.The accompanying campaign consists of a short youtube video TOTALLY brilliant in its simple yet memorable message.Three organisations have formed an International Stillbirth Awareness Collaborative (ISAC) to make this happen Stillaware, Tommy’s (UK) and Star Legacy Foundation (US).In Australia, Stillaware are the only organisation solely dedicated to raising awareness of stillbirth, Tommy’s in the UK have a multifunction of raising funds for stillbirth research and also raising awareness and education, as do the Star Legacy foundation in the US.Today represents the culmination of a LOT of behind the scenes work, meetings and most importantly passion to see a timed release of this very important public awareness message aimed at informing pregnant women of a modifiable risk (something they can act to change) and thereby reduce stillbirths.I have to give an enormous shout out to Claire Foord CEO and Founder of Stillaware without who this timed international release most certainly would not have occurred. Her amazing artistic talents vision and her passion, to make this happen… actually did make it happen. I look forward to continuing to work with this amazing passionate woman and also the ISAC.

Last week I had an absolutely fantastic week with Prof Ingela Radestad from Sweden. I first met her in 2010 at the Sydney ISA/ISPID conference. Last week I discovered that she and I share many life experiences in common, we are both midwives, we have both lost a daughter to stillbirth, we have both come uncomfortably close to losing a grandchild to stillbirth, we began academic life committed to making a difference to bereavement care for families but in more recent years we have both come to the realisation that while bereavement care is, and always will be, vitally important that preventing stillbirth from happening in the first place is really what we should focus on.How do we prevent stillbirth?I think we need a three pronged attack. We need:

Public awareness that stillbirth happens

Pregnant woman awareness of warning signs to look out for and ways to protect herself and her baby during pregnancy

Care providers improved awareness of risk factors and what to look out for, taking care to listen to women and appropriately respond to their concerns

The organisation that is working hard to raise awareness and prevent stillbirth in Australia is Still Aware. This organisation was founded by a bereaved mother Claire Foord. I attended the Australian College of Midwives conference in Adelaide last week and was very privileged to hear Claire speak about stillbirth awareness to an audience of nearly 400 midwives. Her message was incredibly simple yet very powerful.

6 babies die in Australia every single day (Stillbirth happens)

Many pregnant women do not know the warning signs to look for and are unaware of simple measures they can take to keep their unborn baby safe. (She is working to address that by distributing information about how women can keep their unborn baby safe to maternity hospitals across Australia free of charge)

One of the midwives attending the conference congratulated Claire on Still Aware's simple yet understandable messaging. I also would like to congratulate Still Aware for the good work they are doing raising awareness of stillbirth in this country. It is my hope that as a result we will soon see a downward trend in stillbirth rates in Australia. Meanwhile, I would urge other stakeholders to join Still Aware, fund Still Aware and work with Still Aware so we can achieve what we all want and that is an end to preventable stillbirth in this country.